Skipjack Kathryn by Mahuna - FINISHED - 1:32 - Based on HAER Drawings

[Mike Y]

Was worried about painting such a nice wheel over, but your "painting" ended up very nice!

[Mahuna]

7 hours ago, Mike Y said:

Was worried about painting such a nice wheel over, but your "painting" ended up very nice!

Thanks Mike.  

[cog]

CA seems to give it's own problems with certain finishes ... you tackled that very nicely. Love the way it turned out!

[PETERPETER]

Sterling detail on your wheel construction. Curious (as usual) to know how long it took you to build it?

Peter

[HIPEXEC]

It's a work of art!

[Mahuna]

14 hours ago, PETERPETER said:

Sterling detail on your wheel construction. Curious (as usual) to know how long it took you to build it?

Peter

Hi Peter.  I worked on the wheel off and on during December.  Trial and error took most of the time (maybe 30 hours) until I learned how to do it right.  If I started on another, it would take about 10 hours - 4 hours on the milling machine and the rest mostly hand work.

 

1 hour ago, HIPEXEC said:

It's a work of art!

Hi Rich - thanks.  But in the enlarged photos I see lots of things I could have done better.  Oh well, next time!

[Mahuna]

19 hours ago, cog said:

CA seems to give it's own problems with certain finishes ... you tackled that very nicely. Love the way it turned out!

Thanks Carl.  All glues seem to cause some finishing problems.  If I were to do the wheel over I'd try to color the hub, spokes, and spoke nuts before installing them.  I don't know if that would be better, but I guess it's worth a try.

[popeye the sailor]

Kathryn's wheel came out superb....reminds me of a poem I wrote when I built the Susan A {AKA the Regina}.   I had just hung her anchors, when it came to mind.

I had to write it down:

 

To all fine ladies who roam the seas

a gift to the mortal man.

So strong she behaves

as she crashes the waves

she gives him all she can.

 

But the good cap’ knows,  as the story goes

that the lady loves a surprise.

So,  he brought her some steel

and a shiny ship’s wheel

an’ put a gleam to her eyes!

 

the last line was about the 'ear rings',  which were the anchors.   I share it with you good sir   

[Mahuna]

Thanks Popeye.  I love the poem - great job!

[Mahuna]

Part 48 – Kathryn’s Dredge Winder

 

At the end of the last post I mentioned that I needed to do some experimenting to determine how to make shackles that are used during the rigging.  I did do some experimenting, and I think I have a workable approach, but there’s other work (lots of it!) that needs to be done before rigging can be started.

 

The dredge winders occupy a key position on Kathryn’s deck and are fairly complex, so I decided to make them next.

 

The HAER drawings have a couple of good views of the winders, and I do have some photos I took during my visit to Kathryn last October.  The book ‘Working Skipjacks of Deal Island’ also has some good views of Kathryn’s winders in use.

 

                        

 

                        

 

                        

 

The wheels at the rear of the winder assembly are geared and are driven by a small drive gear.  The first step was to mill a piece of ¾” brass rod to the proper diameter and to face the rod.  This work was done on the lathe. 

 

                        

 

The 3-jaw chuck with the work piece was moved to the rotary table that was set up vertically on the milling machine.

 

A small bit with a diamond disk was mounted using a collet, and was used to cut a small line (.015” deep) every 5 degrees on the surface of the workpiece.  This simulated the gears on the wheel.

 

                        

 

The rotary table was returned to the horizontal position and a #67 drill was used to drill 16 simulated bolt holes around the perimeter of the wheel.

 

                        

 

The workpiece was returned to the lathe and the small step around the perimeter of the wheel was shaped.

 

                        

 

The shaft hole in the center of the wheel was drilled using a center drill followed by a succession of small drills until the hole was finished at 1/8”.

 

 

A groove approximately 1/16” deep was cut in the perimeter of the wheel stock at the appropriate distance from the face of the wheel.  This groove was used to guide the jewelers saw that was used to part off the wheel.

 

                        

 

The geared stock was used to make the second wheel following the same process.

 

                        

 

The drive gear was made the same way as the geared wheels.  A rod was held in the tailstock chuck and through the body of the drive gear to prevent it from getting lost once it was parted off.

 

                        

 

                        

 

This completed the gearing on the winder.

 

                        

 

The front wheels of the winder are smaller than the geared wheels, and have holes cut in a slanted front surface.  This slanted surface was made by turning the headstock of the lathe 20 degrees and then facing the end of the stock.

 

                        

 

The center of the wheel was flattened, and then the workpiece and chuck were installed on the rotary table.  The 6 holes were cut using a 7/32 end mill every 30 degrees.

 

                        

 

A slight indent was cut into the perimeter of the wheel and the wheel was then parted off.  A second wheel was made following the same process.

 

                        

 

Cast winder wheels from a Willie Bennett kit were used as a model during the construction process.

 

                        

 

                        

 

With the two sets of wheels and axles completed, the supporting structures will be built next.

 

As with most of my modeling work, there was a lot of trial and error in the learning process for making these wheel sets.  I thought it would be interesting to show the amount of swarf created during that process - ugh!.

 

                        

 

Thanks everyone!

[druxey]

Nice bit of machining, Frank!

[Mahuna]

43 minutes ago, druxey said:

Nice bit of machining, Frank!

Thanks Druxey!  

[Omega1234]

Hi Frank

 

It's been a while since I've looked in, but, wow, I'm not disappointed, that's for sure!  Top job on machining the wheel; not to mention the gearing for the dredging unit.  In fact, I'm sitting here just shaking my head in envy and amazement!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[Mahuna]

Thanks Patrick.  The last couple of months have been quite the learning experience - I'm finally starting to feel a little comfortable with my lathe and milling machine.

[Mike Y]

Are you sure you want to blacken that beauty?  

Nice machining, makes me want to dive into a metalworking lathe.

[Mahuna]

Thanks, Mike.  There's still a lot of work left on the winder before I need to make the final decision about blackening.  

 

The lathe and the milling machine have opened up a lot of modeling possibilities for me - I highly recommend them.

[Omega1234]

Hi Frank

 

I still can't quite get over the difference in the quality of your machined parts when compared to the cast winder from the Willie Bennett kit.

 

Mmmm...now, that's quality for you.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick 

[Mahuna]

Hi Patrick

 

Besides the quality, the parts from the Willie Bennett kit are generic and don't have some of the details shown in the drawings and photos of Kathryn's winder.  I'm going to try to replicate Kathryn's winder as far as possible.

[russ]

Frank:

Great milling work. The results are fantastic. My friction winch will be a small scale, multimedia affair, nothing like what you have created. 

 

Russ

[Mahuna]

Thanks Russ.  I'm going to try to stay with brass for the whole winder configuration (still lots to do) so I hope that blackening will then be consistent.

[popeye the sailor]

nice looking gears and spools......a lot crisper and cleaner that the supplied part you showed.  I'm currently working on a coaster.....the which aboard is fairly tough to find a decent picture of,  let along a functional view.    making the frame should be fun to watch   

[Mahuna]

Thanks Popeye.  Lots more parts to make on the winders - I hope to post an update in a day or so.

[Mahuna]

Part 49 – Kathryn’s Dredge Winder Cont’d

 

Progress continues on the dredge winder for Kathryn.  The last post addressed the manufacture of the winder drums.  These are the main components of the winder, but there are many other pieces that need to be made.

 

The following HAER drawing shows these other components.  The clutch assembly is fairly complex, consisting of several different parts.  The winder is mounted on I-beams.  There are brackets that hold the drums in place, and the drums are encased in protective shells.  The shaft for the drive gear reaches from the engine to the front of the winder, and is mounted on a square configuration at the forward face of the winder.

 

                        

 

Manufacturing the I-beams was a simple matter of reducing the width of a 3/16 square rod, and then milling both sides to form the I shape.

 

                        

 

The cross pieces of the mount were created by cutting shorter pieces to a 45 degree angle at each end, and then soldering strips on the ends to serve as caps.  The following photo shows the components of the mounts laid in place but not yet soldered.

 

                        

 

The main component of the clutch assembly consists of a barrel shape flattened on the top.  The shape was formed on the lathe, and the parting tool was used to cut a separation deep enough for the core of the piece to remain round even after the top is flattened.  This allows the parting off of the piece in a later step.

 

                        

 

The piece was then moved to the mill and the top of the larger cylinder was flattened.

 

                        

 

The piece was then parted from the stock.  A small rod was used to prevent the piece from flying off when parted.

 

                        

 

The handle of the clutch assembly is connected to the clutch body by a disk that has multiple holes around the outside edge.  These disks were created on the rotary table from 3/16” round bar, and were parted off to be .020” thick.

 

The following photo shows the clutch components described above.

 

                        

 

The clutch handle was made from 1/16 x .020 brass strip.  The handle needed to be drilled to take a 1/32” shaft that will attach the handle to the clutch.  Drilling was done with a sensitive drilling attachment with the following setup. 

 

                        

 

                        

 

Weights are attached to the bottom of the clutch handles.   These weights were made from 1/8 x .025 stock, and were soldered to the handles using the setup shown in the following photo.  The jig was made from Corian.

 

                        

 

The following photo shows the handles and weights after final shaping of the weights.

 

                        

 

The disk and a 1/32” rod were soldered to the handles.

 

                        

 

The tops of the handles incline toward the winder, so the handles needed to be bent.  To ensure that both handles were bent at the same place a simple jig was used in the bending.

 

                        

 

The following photo shows the clutch components dry-fit to a winder drum.

 

                        

 

An additional part is needed for the clutch assembly.  There is a small cap that will sit on top of each clutch body.  To make these caps, a piece of stock was milled to shape, and then the middle part was rounded using a rotary tool and files.  The following photo shows the stock after shaping but before the two required pieces were parted off.

 

 

The support for the drive shaft was fairly complex.  It was made from 1/8 x .025 brass strip, soldered as a box approximately ¼” square.  The forward and rear faces of this support are not full, but are made from some angled pieces.

 

                        

 

As can be seen in the above photo, one side has slightly sprung as a result of a solder joint failing.  This will be repaired before the support is installed.

 

Front and rear brackets are needed for mounting the winder drums, and a bracket is needed for holding the drive shaft on the mount shown above.  These brackets were made by drilling appropriate holes in a piece of brass strip, then rough milling to reduce most of the excess, and finally by filing the brackets to the proper shape.

 

                        

 

                        

 

The first step in forming the winder’s base was soldering the forward crosspiece to the two runners.  A squaring jig was used to ensure that the crosspiece was square.

 

                        

 

The following photo shows all of the components for the winder that have been made so far.  The protective shells still need to be made, and then assembly can begin.

 

            

 

[Omega1234]

Hi Frank

 

I reckon you can guess what I’m going to say next?  Yep, you’re right:  precise, magnificent and superb workmanship.

 

....is there anything you can’t do?

 

Cheers. 

 

Patrick

[Canute]

Frank, your machining work is a thing of beauty.

[Mahuna]

Thanks Patrick and Ken.  I'm relatively new to machining, but it has become something I really enjoy.  Of course, I haven't shown all of the failed attempts reach this point!

[druxey]

Impressive is understating it, Frank!

[Mahuna]

Thanks Druxey.

[EdT]

Frank, I have to apologize for being AWOL from your past few posts - my loss.  The work on the dredge gear is exceptional and quite beautiful - a major achievement and one I am sure you are proud of.  Congratulations on this fine work.

 

Ed

[Mahuna]

Thanks Ed.  I often find myself asking "now, how would Ed do this?"  You've set the bar for anything I try to accomplish.